The use of social media has become a trend in need, a necessity and sadly, a danger, as the rise of cyberbullying and toxic comparisons can make social media outrightly negative. Yes, social media influences businesses, celebrities, brands and individuals. It helps in communication and expands rich, but it can be detrimental and damaging, mainly when used excessively.
Despite its many advantages like unifying and strengthening the human race, social media also comes with some disadvantages. Among the many different disadvantages of social media, below are the bad effects of social media on your health.
Weaker Memory
The mind is like the muscle which needs to be used for it to get stronger and better. The more you use your mind to store and remember, the better it gets. The advent of social media has made the need for storing and retaining unnecessary so people no longer experience to have memories in their brain. Instead, they take pictures of experiences to share on social media. This lack of views of the brain muscle leads to weak memories and weaker relationships and strong relationships built on treasured memories.
It also leads to reduced attention span where a person would have paid attention and observed to remember. In the future they would take a picture or make a video and move on to something else. Having weak brains is unhealthy and could affect all areas of life.
Sleep Deprivation
Too much use of social media leads to sleep deprivation because people go through their news feeds and timelines over and again to avoid missing anything. This fear of missing out makes a person spend lesser and lesser hours sleeping, which leads to other complications that accompany sleep deprivation. At sleep is when the body rests and if denied, the opportunity to get restored, many things could go wrong.
Aside from the tendency for grouchiness and restlessness, sleep deprivation can lead to complications like high blood sugar, high blood pressure, stress and even weight gain. Sleep deprivation deprives you of the rest your body needs to revive and stay healthy. Social media tends to reduce the hours available for sleep steadily and this means that there are more and more people walking around sleep deprived because of social media.
Anxiety and Depression
Social media tends to lead to a waste of time and resources. It also seems to cloud the mind in a way which leads to excessive user to lack of productivity and usefulness. This can lead to anxiety and depression as the user watches his life pass by while watching the lives of others on social media. Also, there is news flying around on social media. Though many of them are fake and false, they still influence the way the user feels and views their existence.
What this means is that since many others and their filtered lives, many people develop a habit of unhealthy comparison. This comparison keeps them anxious to meet up and be like their peers, forgetting that they only see the virtual part of their lives. People fall into depression when they feel that they don’t meet up.
Social media is not a place where everything is believed and it is wise to focus on real life. Depression is one of the leading causes of suicide and anything that could trigger it should be avoided at all costs. This raises a need for temperance when it comes to social media. It also decreases self esteem.
Decreased Self-Esteem
When users compare themselves with others and what they post on social media, they tend to see themselves as not enough and this reduces confidence in their eyes. Over time, this depreciating view of them sinks deep and their self-esteem decreases.
Decreased self esteem affects every part of a person’s life and could determine their heights they attain social media having the power to tamper with that shows its detrimental part to human health. When dealing with low self-esteem cost by social media, it helps to remember as the atmosphere. Virgil van Dijk (famous footballer) says the influence of social media is unbelievable. It’s sad to see it’s a fake life that some people live.
Internet Addiction Disorder
Like all other addictive substances and behaviors, the use of social media to the point of addiction makes it unhealthy. Addiction to the Internet through the use of social media also shows withdrawal symptoms when an addicted user attempts to reduce the use of social media. Every type of addiction is hazardous and makes the addict unstable and leads to abuse of other things in life.
Addiction leads to extremes which have fed not only the addict but also those close to the addicts. The sounds and sights of social media can be addictive and this possibility should be taken into consideration when it is used next.
Less Human Connection
Humans thrive in positive social visible relationships. The use of social media is attacking the stability and sanity which comes from the good relationships. The need to communicate with physical friends and family members gets reduced by the attention the virtual friends on social media demand. This focus on virtual friends leads to a lack of real friends in life and loneliness which is sometimes heeding by posts on social media.
Human connections are known to promote good health and total wellbeing. It also fosters empathy and love and care which may be absent when dealing with virtual friends as provided by social media. The reduction in human connection has led to a decrease in genuine care and love for one another and understanding that there is legal or no need to be real.
This fact shows that despite the unifying power of social media, the ability to promote real human connection might be absent as the people relate via screen. The barrier screens out authenticity, genuine affection and vulnerability without which the human connection gets lost. Social media might have come to stay as it plays a substantial role in the advancement of globalization.
However, there is a need for regulation. The above listed negatives associated with the use of social media are just a part of the full range of damage social media does to the unaware users. What we have are damaged addicted users who have no idea why their lives are depressing and unproductive.
How to Avoid Bad Effects of Social Media
To avoid these adverse effects of social media on our health and minds, we should do like the former fresh lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama. She said when it comes to social media, there are just times I turn off the world, and you know, there are just some times you have to give yourself space to be quiet which means you have to set those phones down.
